plantain

[plan-tin, -tn]

noun

a tropical plant, Musa paradisiaca, of the banana family, resembling the banana.

its fruit, eaten cooked as a staple food in tropical regions.

Origin of plantain

1545–55; earlier pla(n)tan < Spanish plá(n)tano plantain, also plane tree < Medieval Latin pla(n)tanus, Latin platanus plane³

plantain

[plan-tin, -tn]

noun

any plant of the genus Plantago, especially P. major, a weed with large, spreading leaves close to the ground and long, slender spikes of small flowers.

Origin of plantain

1350–1400; Middle English plauntein < Old French plantein < Latin plantāgin- (stem of plantāgō), derivative of planta sole of the foot, literally, something flat and spread out, like the broad leaf of the plantain; akin to Greek platýs flat¹; see platy-

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for plantain

Contemporary Examples of plantain

It is a simple Puerto Rican cow's milk cheese called queso de hoja and it is wrapped in a plantain leaf.
A Little Latin Flavor
Sarah Whitman-Salkin
October 21, 2009

Historical Examples of plantain

All his movements could be observed by the party at the house, as he was on that side of the plantain.
The Forest Exiles
Mayne Reid
Then one of the soldiers bade me eat my plantain; and I thought I must do as I was bid.
The Hour and the Man
Harriet Martineau
The soldiers said I was half-starved, and they gave me a plantain that they pulled by the road-side.
The Hour and the Man
Harriet Martineau
One of the most important trees in the West Indies is the plantain tree.
Will Weatherhelm
W.H.G. Kingston
Thus Quonna is a buffalo, Abrootoo is a cornstalk, Abbradi a plantain.
Myth, Ritual, and Religion, Vol. 1
Andrew Lang

British Dictionary definitions for plantain

plantain

noun

any of various N temperate plants of the genus Plantago, esp P. major (great plantain), which has a rosette of broad leaves and a slender spike of small greenish flowers: family PlantaginaceaeSee also ribwort

Word Origin for plantain

C14 plauntein, from Old French plantein, from Latin plantāgō, from planta sole of the foot

plantain

noun

a large tropical musaceous plant, Musa paradisiaca

the green-skinned banana-like fruit of this plant, eaten as a staple food in many tropical regions

Word Origin for plantain

C16: from Spanish platano plantain, plane tree

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for plantain

n.1

"banana," 1550s, plantan, from Spanish plátano, plántano, probably from Carib palatana "banana" (Arawak pratane), and altered by association with Spanish plátano "plane tree," from Medieval Latin plantanus "plane tree," itself altered (by association with Latin planta "plant") from Latin platanus (see plane (n.4)). So called from the shape of its leaves. There is no similarity or relation between this plant and plantain (n.2).

n.2

"weed of the genus Plantago," mid-13c., from Anglo-French plaunteyne, Old French plantain, from Latin plantaginem (nominative plantago), the common weed, from planta "sole of the foot" (see plant (n.)); so called from its flat leaves.